


The Brok[e]n path

by Yoko_Taro_Fan



Series: Misplaced Puppets [4]
Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Obscure time skips, Pre-game storyline, Timeline? What Timeline?, but later, disconnected stories, that do connect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:55:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24081682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoko_Taro_Fan/pseuds/Yoko_Taro_Fan
Summary: “I do assure you that I did have a plan going into this, and by the end you’ll most probably think that I’m lying right now.”
Relationships: 21O/A2 (NieR: Automata), 2B/6O (NieR: Automata), 2B/9S (NieR: Automata), 6O/21O (NieR: Automata), 9S/A2 (NieR: Automata)
Series: Misplaced Puppets [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661269
Kudos: 5





	1. A Target

“6O, this place was clear, right?” 2B’s voice was wavering across the channel; even through the static, her fear could be heard.

6O glanced over the vitals over the two units, her eyes finally opening after what was hours of nothing. “Yeah. It should be. What is it?”

“I need backup, and a Healer in my position. 9S has been stabbed, and there’s something here. Do another scan!”

6O jumped up back into her seat, swinging it around to position herself over the console. “Say again, 2B.”

“I need backup! Send down…*static*”

6O glanced at 21O, who was scrambling around, trying to find a blueprint. As she was listening to 2B, her gaze was broken by the static blocking the message from getting through.

“Commander, we have a situation. Permission to request RDT to descend?”

“What’s the situation? What would be serious enough for the rapid deployment team now?”

“9S has been attacked by an unknown assailant. Area jamming is being deployed, and vitals are no longer displaying.”

“Do we know their position?”

“Yes.”

“Permission denied. Reestablish communication, and if they are in imminent danger, then RDT will respond. The factory there is too vital to compromise.”

21O turned around to stop herself from punching the screen in front of her.

——————————

2B bent down, examining the dagger that was in 9S’ side. 

“How...bad is...it, pod? She looked up, letting her head rest against the concrete.

“Unknown. Internal bleeding detected. Severe haemorrhage possible. Statement: 9S requires medical assistance.”

2B fully knelt down beside her, her eyes darting around the ruined library as she analysed each shadow.

“The RDT should already be coming. What stabbed you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve n...ever seen anything...as fast.”

“I’m going to remove the dagger now, hold on tight.”

2B slowly put her hand on the handle, pulling it out tentatively. 9S closed her eyes, self-hacking to reduce her pain sensitivity. It also helped that her blood coagulated very quickly when exposed to the air (her own modification), stopping the bleeding almost instantly. 

This, unfortunately, did mean that 9S’ blood pressure rose at an alarming rate. Something that both pods wouldn’t have. 

“Forced shutdown in 3 seconds.” 

“153, what are you doing?” 2B looked at the black pod, wide eyed.

“Blood pressure has risen over structural integrity. Any higher could cause severe damage.”

“Wait! I have something to deal with…”

“Forced shutdown complete.”

The black pod finally descended from its position high above all of their heads.  
“Black box detected.”

“What do you mean…?” She paused mid-sentence as her brain caught up with 042’s message, her eyes darting around the bushes and trees that surrounded them in the open. 

042 was on the ground, already carved into 2 parts as the shadow retreated back into the cover of the trees.

“153, I need 9S’ weapons.” She said very calmly, considering the situation.

“Affirmative.” A flash of gold and white light, and a heavy golden katana dropped into her hands.

“Reactivating unit in low-power mode.”

9S woke up with a harsh gasp. Coughs punctuated her breaths as she acclimated back to living. 

“Pod...i need...the dissolver.”

“Affirmative.”

The small spray capsule landed in 9S’ hand, and she sprayed it over the wound. It stung, and she clenched her hands as she did so. A quick dive through her system network, and the pipe connecting her spine to her legs was drained momentarily, and so she was also immobilised.

The nanomachine got to work, bridging the gap in the pipe, closing it up in a matter of seconds. With a quick dab of staunching gel, she was back on her feet, spear in hand.

“Jamming detected, caution…” 

A spear impaled 153, taking it out of the sky. 2B traced it with her eyes as it fell down, not getting back up. Sparks flew from its broken chassis.

“Damn it! 2B, activate short-range radio wave camouflage. The RDT should be here by now.”

“At this point, I don’t think backup’s coming.” 2B’s words made 9S much more anxious; she hadn’t backed up her data in the morning because of this last-minute recon mission.

“...one sec.” 9S managed to lock onto something hiding in the trees, and she raised her hands up to prep the hack. 

Just as she was about to start the hack, she hit the ground, rolling backwards as A2’s kick sent her flying. 2B reacted just a tad late, and she couldn’t stop A2 from following up, kicking 9S again, this time definitely breaking something.

The clash of metal on metal reverberated as A2 swung at 2B, again and again. 2B could only step back and deflect each blow. 2B could feel her bones vibrating as A2 threw her sword at her.

Eventually, one of them made a mistake. 2B did.

As 2B readied to block A2’s downward slice, she pushed her blade. But it never connected, as A2 saw this coming and twisted her body to kneel before 2B, her back facing the other android. The sword went straight through 2B, piercing the black box and killing her instantly.

“2B...2B, help.” 9S called out in a small raspy voice, desperately pleading to the lifeless body of 2B, crawling over to her. The shadow of the rogue android cast over the pair put 9S in the darkness, as she continued to try and crawl away, even though she knew each movement would make her broken ribs dig more into her lungs. 

A2 took one stride to catch up with 9S, almost laughing as the other android was slipping on the coolant spilling out of her body. It oxidised instantly, sticking to her dress and staining a sickly red.

9S turned back to look at A2 as she took another step, standing right next to her.  
“I won’t tell them where you are! Just, please...Don’t kill me.”

A2’s glare turned icy upon hearing 9S’ words.  
“They’d just send you again.”

“We weren’t here to…” 9S was cut off as A2 took one more step, grabbing her chin and wrapping her arm around the other android’s neck. 9S grabbed handfuls of the ground as she tried to break A2’s grip, but it was too strong.

The seconds passed as A2 lifted 9S up, pulling her up from the ground by her neck. 9S in turn kicked A2’s knee, but it had the reverse-effect of what she wanted. Instead of recoiling backwards, A2 used the momentum to drag 9S back down to the floor, and now 9S was on top, completely unable to do anything.

Her vision drifted away, replaced by the eerie darkness she as a scanner was too accustomed to.


	2. Mistakes

“Say, 2B, why do I have a fishing modification on my pod?  
I never installed it, and, well, it isn’t exactly something they give on the assembly line.”

2B turned her back as quickly as she could without raising suspicion, staring at the wall for an answer to the crisis that was unfolding in front of her. Of all the things she had done to cover up the last execution. It seemed, for the past streak of 9Ss, there was always something she would miss that 9S could and would pick up on. At this point, she had already made a list just to make sure she wouldn’t miss something, but it clearly wasn’t enough.

2B ran forward, choosing to focus on the mission to avoid any confrontation with 9S. She could already hear 9S calling out in the back of her mind, and the echoes of the past ones she just couldn’t shut up, as it tore at her heart. She was almost glad as she saw the machines in the dilapidated buildings.

She was dreading the conversation with 9S more than any fight she had with any machine.

Too quickly, it was over, and 2B hailed 6O over the comms before 9S could interject with her honest question.

“6O, area’s clear.”

“Command needs 9S on the Bunker for long-range recon.”  
2B breathed a sigh of relief.

“2B, you’ll also need to come up. You need your routine maintenance, which is overdue by 3 days.”  
6O put away the holographic list that the Commander gave to her.

“So, how is it? Did you find any flowers?  
It must be great down there…”  
6O’s voice drifted off wistfully.

“No. 2B out.”

The screen went white as 2B forcefully closed it, and she started walking as fast as she could towards the access point, almost slamming herself into the vending machine in her desperation.

Her vision went black, and as she opened her eyes, she tried to move her eyelids, but they wouldn’t move. 

She could feel the tension in the air as nothing moved, and she couldn’t feel anything. 

Adjust your audio settings until you can hear me.

She moved the slider until 9S’ voice was clear, ringing in her ears.

“...hello? Hello? Can you hear me, 2B? Adjust them until you can hear me.  
Can you hear me, 2B?”

They did this every time. 

2B didn’t respond.  
“Well, if you choose not to listen to me, I’ll move on.”

“Adjust your brightness settings until you can see me.”

2B already knew the setting that she was comfortable with, but she pretended not to be able to see her.

“I have your settings on my HUD, 2B. You can’t mislead me.”  
She smiled, looking down at the still completely motionless body of her partner.

2B played this same routine each time, just to see her smile, at a time where she could enjoy it without a million questions from 9S and her pod blurting out warnings about her heart rate. Not that she minded the warnings, most of them were at the back of her mind as she scrambled to lie about her feelings, to crush 9S’ hopes each time. To look away as 9S’ smile would die, as it always did. 

The last time she did, it wasn’t pretty. 2B messed up, bad, completely hitting off target, hitting her shoulder instead of her black box. She still remembered 9S’ look of horror, regret, anger and pain as she stabbed her again, making her fall to her knees.  
9S splashed in the puddle, falling down to her knees as the last blade came down on her neck.

It chilled her to the core, and from that one onwards, she promised no more mistakes, and no more decapitations.

The smile reassured her, even though in the cold, uncaring void and not being able to feel anything, it gave a sense of warmth she couldn’t get anywhere else, even as her chest felt like it was being crushed from the inside.

‘Everything should be in working order.”

2B woke up, quickly putting the blindfold over her head.

“Although, you keep dodging my questions. Literally.”

She dashed out of the door, out of sight even before the door started closing.

“There she goes again.” 9S sighed as the door shut.  
“Pod, do you know why she…”

“Reason unknown.”  
The black pod’s feminine voice rang out quickly, cutting off the question even before 9S could finish.

9S sighed.

“I guess something happened to me before, before I could back up my memory. Pod, do you know?”

“This pod’s memory is insufficient to answer that question.”

“Fine, keep your secrets then.”

She walked out of the door calmly as Earth swung into view. She could see most of the continents from her tiny window, and, as a flight unit shot towards the surface, burning on re-entry, she ran to the command centre at top speed, barely dodging the other androids in the corridor.


End file.
